


Coping Mechanism

by melonbutterfly



Category: Star Trek RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-25
Updated: 2009-11-25
Packaged: 2017-10-13 00:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/130665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melonbutterfly/pseuds/melonbutterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zach misses Chris.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coping Mechanism

It's actually not that bad, Zach thinks, and it's not self-deception, as Chris claims it is (Zach tells him he's too full of himself, to which Chris replies that _Zach_ is too full of Chrisself, which might be true, but he's not admitting it until Chris gets back). He is perfectly fine drinking his coffee alone, not hearing anyone complain that the cat left hairs all over their bed _again_ ("Zaach, do you want me to become allergic? You know I will!" and Chris so totally would, if only to spite him) and doing... all that other stuff he has been doing for most of his life alone. He doesn't really want to think about what it says about himself that an empty shower has never been more depressing.

But it's not that bad. Their telephone bills are gigantic, but Chris reads to him on the phone (Zach might doubt the sagacity of making him read the Star Trek Audiobook when obviously Chris would have been so much better at it, but he's not telling Chris until he comes back) until Zach tells him to stop because while he does enjoy Chris' voice when it's rough and raw from speaking too much, he knows it's definitely Not Good when Chris is acting. Zach reads to Chris too, then, but Chris always falls asleep within five minutes so he only gets to do so when it's morning for him and evening for Chris (and he's still waiting for Chris to figure out he's started reading _Twilight_ to him a couple of days ago). Zach texts Chris all the hard words of the crosswords, for which Chris might hate him a little bit (and Zach will only tell him at what time he gets up so he can be sure Chris hasn't gotten to it yet when Chris gets back).

It's really not that bad, though. Chris is working and having fun, and Zach is working and having fun, and Chris goes to sleep in his hotel room and Zach goes to sleep in their bed. They exchange emails and have IM chat dates, and sometimes, Chris orders Zach to go get a movie and they watch it together; sometimes on the phone when it is actually kind of bad, but there's always an echo and it's a little nerve-grating, so more often than not they use instant messaging. They're both wise enough not to video chat when they're supposed to watch a movie, because they both know they won't get much movie-watching done when their eyes are fixed on the screens of their laptops (but they'll only tell each other when Chris comes back). They have phone-sex and chat-sex (they're both still arguing over the of the accuracy of the word "sex" because actually, it's only masturbation), but Zach likes the phone-sex better because it feels a whole less lonely, and to hear Chris form the words is a lot more sexy than to only see the end-result on the screen, and that he _did_ tell Chris even though Chris wasn't back yet. On the week-ends or when they both have enough time, they have video-phone sex, and Zach thinks he might die because it's almost enough, and he never knew he could be so happy with almost enough (that, he will probably never tell Chris).

But it's not that bad. Chris sends him an abundance of photos (so many that Zach has to get them off his phone almost daily because they're clogging up all the memory space on his mobile) he made with his cell phone; whenever he can get away with it on set, and all the time everywhere else. Once he sent him a picture of every single step he took (of his feet and the floor, and additional pictures of his surroundings) from the car into his hotel room, and Zach almost felt like he was there (and maybe he will tell Chris when he comes back that he almost cried, then). Zach sends Chris the sky; whenever he has the time, he takes a picture of it (several if there are clouds) and sends it to Chris, and when he's feeling weird he also takes pictures of the paps or the dog turds Noah makes. Once he sent him a picture of the hair Harold left all over their bed (he's only marking his territory; Chris would totally do it too if he could get away with it (Chris laughs when he tells him so, but doesn't deny it, and Zach will tell him when he comes back that the next time, Chris so totally will be forced to leave his damn hair all over the place)), but Chris called him and was silent and quiet because apparently he could tell that Zach was sleeping on his side of the bed, and that actually was that bad, because Zach can't bear to hear him like that and not be able to touch him (he doesn't need to tell Chris that when he comes back, because Chris already knows).

All in all, though, Zach thinks he's dealing rather okay, considering.

And one time, almost a week before he gets back, Chris calls and says "I have a lot to tell you when I come back." as if they hadn't each kept a running commentary of their lives (sometimes they actually told each other when they were using the toilet, but Zach doesn't want to think about the weirdness or potential girlyness of that, and neither does he want to wonder if Chris washed his hands before he touched his cell phone again to read Zach's traditional "you freak"-reply-text).

And Zach takes a breath and says, "I have a lot to tell you as well."


End file.
